Pelosi rebuffs Bush in bid to stall Colombia trade pact

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, April 10, 2008

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is flanked by Rep. James Clyburn (left) and Sen. Dick Durbin as they leave a news conference.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is flanked by Rep. James Clyburn (left) and Sen. Dick Durbin as they leave a news conference.

Photo: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

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###Live Caption:Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) (L-R), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) walk away after talking to reporters at the White House in Washington April 9, 2008. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives announced plans on Wednesday to indefinitely delay action on a free trade pact with Colombia, likely frustrating President George W. Bush's hope of winning approval of the agreement this year. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES)###Caption History:Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) (L-R), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) walk away after talking to reporters at the White House in Washington April 9, 2008. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives announced plans on Wednesday to indefinitely delay action on a free trade pact with Colombia, likely frustrating President George W. Bush's hope of winning approval of the agreement this year. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES)###Notes:Democratic leaders walk away after talking to reporters at the White House in Washington###Special Instructions:0 less

###Live Caption:Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) (L-R), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) walk away after talking to reporters at the White House in Washington April 9, 2008. ... more

Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE

Pelosi rebuffs Bush in bid to stall Colombia trade pact

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Rebuffing a furious Bush administration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she will try to delay a trade agreement with Colombia and asked President Bush to first address Democratic demands for more domestic economic stimulus measures.

Pelosi said the House will vote on a rule change Thursday to freeze the clock on when it must consider the pact, despite a law that requires the House to consider the Colombia Free Trade Agreement within 60 legislative days after its delivery to Capitol Hill. Bush sent the pact to Congress Tuesday.

Aides to Bush and Cabinet officials accused Pelosi of effectively killing the trade pact, harming diplomatic relations with an important ally and threatening the next administration's bargaining power in trade talks.

"What country, after this action, will look to the trade representative ... and think that they'll be able to count on their word?" White House spokeswoman Dana Perino asked. "It's very, very troubling."

But Pelosi said the pact would be defeated if she brought it up for a vote, and signaled that Democrats want to focus on U.S. economic woes.

"We're first and foremost here to look out for the concerns of America's working families. I take this action with deep respect to the people of Colombia and will be sure that any message they receive is one of respect for their country," Pelosi said.

The United States and Colombia completed a trade agreement in 2006, then renegotiated its terms last year under demands from Democrats to toughen labor and environmental standards. Pelosi was involved in discussions of the terms.

The deal would open Colombia to many U.S. products currently subject to stiff tariffs. Under annual agreements, most Colombian goods can be exported duty-free to the United States, but the new pact would make the arrangement permanent.

Trade between the two countries totaled a modest $18 billion in 2007. It included coffee, fruit and clothing from Colombia and automobiles and farm machinery from the United States.

Bush views free trade as one of the signature issues of his presidency. He said this week that loosening market barriers with Colombia is vital to the U.S. economy and would bolster the rule of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a U.S. ally.

Bush said Uribe has made strides in quelling violence and in battling the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a Marxist guerrilla force that the U.S. government has designated a terrorist group.

After Pelosi's announcement, the administration organized a series of fierce rebuttals to the Democrats' tactic. Perino suggested that Democratic leaders want to avoid a vote because they are at risk of losing. She said many Democrats "don't want to have their fingerprints on killing it. ... The fact that they don't even want to have a vote should tell you something."

Perino's deputy, Tony Fratto, said: "Tomorrow's vote is effectively a vote to kill this agreement - and with it, the jobs that would have been created for American workers."

Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "Any vote to delay the consideration of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would violate the spirit of the law and undermine our ability to create more American jobs. Let me be clearer: It would be cheating."

The political tension surrounding the Colombia trade deal has been heightened in recent weeks by events in the Democratic presidential primary campaign. The top strategist for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was ousted Sunday after revelations that he met with Colombian government officials in his capacity as head of a public relations firm promoting the deal. Clinton and Obama have announced their opposition to the agreement.

U.S. labor unions also oppose the pact, citing allegations that trade unionists in Colombia are subject to violence that sometimes includes murder.

Under current law, the House has until early August to approve or reject the trade pact without amendments. If the House approves it, the Senate has 30 legislative days - until early October, under the planned congressional session - to do the same.

In the current environment, Pelosi said, proceeding to an up-or-down vote would lead to defeat for the trade deal, sending a worse signal to allies than doing nothing.

"If brought to the floor immediately, it would lose. And what message would that send?" she asked. "And so I thought there was everything to be gained (by) continuing our conversation."

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